Is the all-volunteer force sustainable? - Airline Pilot Central Forums

Excargodog , 01-28-2023 05:51 AM

Perennial Reserve

With recruiting dropping, and fewer and fewer either willing or fit to serve, it’s become a legitimate question.

https://www.realcleardefense.com/art...te_878344.html

PipeMan , 01-28-2023 07:23 AM

Gets Weekends Off

There are some things they could do to up recruitment without needing to draft. I am curious, has this topic been brought up in recent history? Were any of these articles popping up in the early 2000s with the Iraq War on the horizon. Was lack of manpower a concern?

rickair7777 , 01-28-2023 07:55 AM

Prime Minister/Moderator

Quote:

Originally Posted by PipeMan

There are some things they could do to up recruitment without needing to draft.

Yes, but ultimately at the end of the day you need folks to show up for the hard jobs without ridiculous costs. Although they might simply have to pay more, and offer better retirement options. The 20-year pension wasn't going to make you any kind of wealthy, but it sure takes away a lot of anxiety about having to switch careers in the prime of your professional life with kid's college around the corner.

You might be surprised what appeals to kids these days... my buddy's daughter just got commissioned, good rank at the academy, and she went into some kind of cyber specialty. Now my kid's interested in that too. Both of our families are multi-generation line officer warfighters and the kids want to do computer stuff

They are looking at liberalizing facial hair rules, and presumably tattoos as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PipeMan

I am curious, has this topic been brought up in recent history? Were any of these articles popping up in the early 2000s with the Iraq War on the horizon. Was lack of manpower a concern?

Different generation. Early millenials were mostly analog in their formative years and didn't have their brains hardwired to the iCloud.

Initially they had no shortage because of 9/11.. people were really pizzed off. As OEF/OF dragged into a protracted ground war, the Army especially had some recruiting challenges... that happens in every modern era ground war. In fairness even the folks in WWII were back home and mustered out in four years.

Excargodog , 01-28-2023 01:38 PM

Perennial Reserve

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickair7777

In fairness even the folks in WWII were back home and mustered out in four years.

In fairness, in WWII people were actually more concerned about DEFEATING our adversaries than winning their hearts and minds.

Meanwhile, the new German Defense Minister appears to have gotten religion:

Quote:
The 100 billion euro special fund for Armed forces of Germany (Bundeswehr) "will not be enough" to achieve the objectives for which it was established following the war waged by Russia against Ukraine. This was stated by the German Defense Minister, Boris Pistorius, during an interview he gave to the newspaper "Sueddeutsche Zeitung". Pistorius added that “every new system comes with new maintenance costs, with every new device there are new and higher running costs”. The exponent of the German Social Democratic Party then judged the 50 billion euro defense budget insufficient.

Meanwhile, as highlighted by Pistorius, the Bundeswehr urgently needs supplies to fill the shortages of weapons and materials, aggravated by aid to Ukraine such as the Leopard 2A6 tanks. In this regard, the German Defense Minister observed that armored vehicles "are not found to be taken away on a shelf" and "ammunition does not grow on trees, waiting to be collected". Germany will not be able to fix the shortcomings of the Bundeswehr in the short term. In the medium and long term, Pistorius pointed out, "we should set up a European arms industry that can do it". Furthermore, "weapons systems standardized in Europe" should be achieved.

Germany's suspension of compulsory military service in 2011 was "a mistake," Pistorius later said. The minister added that conscription is also important for creating a strong link between civil society and the Armed Forces (Bundeswehr). Now, finally underlined the exponent of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SpD), the goal is to make the Bundeswehr "so attractive that good young people are interested and apply" for enlistment